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Doug Ford hires Hazel McCallion for $150,000 a year as ‘special adviser’

Former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion has been hired as Premier Doug Ford’s “special adviser” on municipal affairs for up to $150,000 a year.

The 97-year-old McCallion, mayor from 1978 until 2014, endorsed Ford’s Progressive Conservatives in last June’s election after supporting the Liberals for their previous four victorious campaigns.

“The Liberals have admitted everything hasn’t been perfect in Kathleen Wynne’s Ontario. Well, that’s one way of putting it,” she said last spring.

“Doug has committed to fixing Ontario’s finances.”

At the time, Wynne noted she and McCallion, who had been close political allies for years, said they broke because “she has been asking me for two years to open up the Greenbelt and I’ve said a firm no.”

“I can see why she would find Doug Ford an attractive candidate,” the then-Liberal premier said.

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Ford, whose government is examining the province’s growth plan and looking at regional government in 82 municipalities across Ontario, said Friday that McCallion, a proponent of Mississauga breaking from Peel Region, will also advise Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark “on a range of municipal issues.”

“Housing is one of our government’s top priorities and I’m looking forward to having Hazel McCallion support our work on the housing supply action plan,” said Clark.

“This advice, combined with the input we’re receiving through the government’s housing supply consultation, will help ensure that the people of Ontario have access to the right kind of housing in the right place.”

Long influential at Queen’s Park, McCallion has backed the winner in nearly every provincial election since she was elected Mississauga mayor more than 40 years ago.

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Her decision to abandon Tory premier Ernie Eves in 2003 and back Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals played a part in the then governing party’s demise that election.

At the time, she said voters want better services not tax cuts and warned that Ontario cities could not afford the province downloading its costs and responsibilities on them.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who succeeded McCallion four years ago, said “she is an excellent choice” to advise Ford and Clark.

“I know Hazel understands Mississauga’s issues and positions and will be a strong advocate for our city and the municipal sector,” said Crombie, who also wants Mississauga out of Peel.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, a former PC leader who has sparred with Ford over cuts to his city, praised Clark for the choice of McCallion: “She is brilliant. She has been a source of great advice and mentoring during my first few months as mayor of Brampton. I hope the province genuinely listens to her,” Brown said on Twitter.

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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